Return to Financial Health Page

Sample Grand Jury Letter Calling for the Investigation of Richmond's Financial Crisis

Contra Costa County Grand Jury
Grand Jury Foreperson Art Ronat
Room 2017, A. F. Bray Courts Building
Martinez, CA 94553

Members of the Contra Costa County Grand Jury:

I , a citizen and resident of the city of Richmond, California , sadly but firmly request the immediate investigation of the financial status of our city administration and the factors that have determined it.

I believe that Mayor Anderson and other elected officials colluded with senior city administrators to criminally hide the truth from the citizens of this city for months, if not years . That they conspired to misrepresent the true state of the financial affairs of the city and to keep the public ignorant of the seriousness of the many crises facing our city.

I suspect that there was a conspiracy of secret deals and arrangements which surrendered the public interests to private special interests, hiding the gravidity of the problems from the public and giving former administrators a golden parachute retirement package when they abandoned the sinking ship taking with them their knowledge of what happened in this city over the last years.

I suspect that the corruption of this city government and these administrations have favored special interests and damaged, perhaps beyond repair, the ability of this city to serve the public. The level of negligence of the common good is, in out opinion, criminal in nature.

I ask the Contra Costa County Grand Jury to look into each and all aspects of the policies and actions of the recent past and current city administrators.

I also ask the Grand Jury to investigate the direct and indirect responsibility in the current financial chaos of the city of Mayor Anderson, members of the finance committee and each of the current members of the Richmond City Council.

In the hope that the truth will make us freer to find a way forward.

I thank you for your attention to this urgent matter and would appreciate an acknowledgment of this letter.

Sincerely,